Glycine



Glycine is the most simple amino acid. It is a peptide. It's R-group is one hydrogen atom. Because it has a hydrogen atom as its R-group, glycine is the only achiral amino acid. Glycine has a high degree of rotational freedom and is frequently found in β-hairpin turns along with proline.

Representations
The ball and stick representation of glycine does not show the true size and shape of the molecule. The spacefill representation shows size and shape but hides structure behind the surface. This stick representation shows only bonds, and is better for seeing through layers of a large molecule. In this view, the peptide backbone is highlighted.